Chinese Journal of Catalysis

Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2026, Vol. 82: 61-73.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(25)64850-9

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Harmonization of acidic OER activity and stability of ruthenium-manganese oxide by optimization of amorphous-crystalline heterostructure

Lin Liua,b,1, Jun Chena,b,1, Ailong Lic, Shuang Kongd, Ying Zhanga, Yafei Qiaoa,b, Pengfei Zhanga, Can Lia,b,*(), Hongxian Hana,†()   

  1. aState Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, Liaoning, China
    bUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    cState Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, Anhui, China
    dHefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, Anhui, China
  • Received:2025-07-24 Accepted:2025-08-22 Online:2026-03-18 Published:2026-03-05
  • Contact: * E-mail: canli@dicp.ac.cn (C. Li),hxhan@ybu.edu.cn (H. Han).
  • About author:1 Contributed to this work equally.
    †Present address: Laboratory of Catalysis for Energy and Resources, College of Sciences, Yanbian University, Yanji 133002, Jilin, China
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(22088102);Key Special Project of the National Key R&D Program(2025YFE0107800)

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Abstract:

Ru-based oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts exhibit considerable promise for the replacement of Ir-based catalysts due to their high activity and relatively low cost. However, optimization of activity and stability of Ru-based OER catalysts in acidic environment is still a challenging task. Here, we present an optimized amorphous-rutile crystalline heterostructure Ru3Mn1Ox-250 catalyst could achieve OER activity with an overpotential of only 211 mV at 10 mA/cm2 while maintaining stable operation for at least 1000 h in acidic electrolyte. When the catalyst was used as an anode material in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, it could deliver an industrial current of 1 A/cm2 at 1.65 V (80 °C), outperforming the commercial RuO2 catalyst (1.82 V). The catalyst can even maintain stable operation at 1 A/cm2 for 100 h, showcasing its high OER activity and stability. The experimental and theoretical studies revealed that Mn is atomically dispersed throughout the amorphous-crystalline phases mainly in form of low valence state Mn, forming asymmetric Ru-O-Mn bonds which leads to distorted Oh coordination geometry of Mn with Ru. Such unique microstructure leads to: (1) enhancement of OER activity by reduction of the d band center further away from the Fermi level, weakening the adsorption of oxygen intermediates and accelerating the rate-determining *OOH intermediate formation; (2) enhancement of the catalyst stability by increasing the energy barrier of *RuO(OH)2 formation, which is the key intermediate for the catalyst dissolution via RuO4- formation. This work demonstrates that an amorphous-crystalline heterostructure design strategy is an effective way to overcome the activity-stability trade-off, offering a new approach for the development of efficient OER catalysts stable in acidic electrolyte.

Key words: Ruthenium-manganese oxide, Amorphous-crystalline structure, Oxygen evolution reaction, Acidic electrolyte, Proton exchange membrane water, electrolysis